How many of you found out the sex of your unborn baby and why?

[ajh]

I have found out with all of mine. I don't really like surprises I prefer to be prepared and it still is a surprise when you find out whether at 20 weeks or at the birth. I feel that it also helps us bond with the baby to be able to name them and know their gender.

[zaelia]

We decided to find out once we knew it was twins. I had had enough surprises... But we went to the hospital with girl names just in case. If it had been only one we probably would have waited.

[pansy]

I'm pregnant with our first right now and we're finding out the gender at 20 weeks. Not knowing if we're having a boy or a girl is killing me right now. I just think it's so much more fun decorating a nursery and buying baby clothes when you know the gender (and honestly, if I see one more gender neutral green nursery, I think I'll scream). Also, my husband and I have basically agreed to not discuss baby names until we know the gender. I see no point in arguing over which boy name we love the best if this baby turns out to be a girl (or vice versa).

The only way I would ever leave the gender a surprise until delivery is if we were having a third child and already had one boy and one girl. Otherwise, no, I would have to know.

[jwalling]

We found out in advance--it's not that gender is so important, it's just that I can't imagine having any kind of information about my baby available and not immediately seizing it. To me it just feels a little false to have someone else know and try to keep this secret from me, about my own baby. You can still choose to have a gender-neutral nursery and clothing, and de-emphasize gender in your planning if that's important to you.

Interestingly, I have two friends who have strong opinions about which gender they'd want, and for both of them this affects their desire to find out in advance, but in opposite ways. My friend G really wants a boy, so she's finding out in advance because if it's a girl she wants time to get used to the idea. My friend L really wants a girl, so she's not finding out in advance because she thinks it would be impossible to be disappointed about the gender if there's a real live baby in your arms. I guess different choices are right for different people.

[agirlinred]

I don't have kids yet, but I don't plan on knowing the sex until the baby is born. Like someone else pointed out, parents did just fine "planning" for the thousands of years before we had sonograms. I do not see that as an issue. I would also not find out just to irritate my family and friends.

[aussiesteph]

My husband really does not want to find out - will not even discuss possible pros of finding out (his dad is exactly the same way - raises his eyebrows when he hears someone knows in advance and last year refused to be let in on whether his first grandchild was a boy or a girl even thought EVERYONE else knew!). Since my hubby is pretty laid-back & lets me have my way with decorating and buying and pretty much everything else, I am happy to let him make the decision for us to wait until the birth. I did, however, mention that if we find out we are having twins that I might reconsider the not finding out...

[tina91]

I hadn't decided to find out the gender of this baby, but the ultrasound tech let it slip. I am having a boy.

[jaytrix]

We 6 months pregnant with our second and we will not be finding out. We didn't with our first either. We didn't find it difficult to prepare at all not knowing. In fact, it probably saved us a lot of money. We just bought the basics, furniture and about 4 gender neutral sleepers. We knew we would want to shop after the baby was born for a few more gender specific pieces and having our son in our arms and picking out something just for him made it so special. Also, as soon as we had him friends and family started giving us gifts and hand-me-downs. We would have bought a lot of this stuff if we had known the gender in advance. Being able to surprise our family and friends after the birth with the gender and our sons name made the birth announcement seem so much more special and exciting. I totally understand for those that want to know, in the end it's a personal decision that you have to make with your husband. All the best!

[flashy09]

I think it would be fun to wait until the delivery room, but I don't have any of that patience! I was so excited to find out and did at 16 weeks. For me, it really helped with the connection with the baby.

[historia]

I am definitely finding out the sex of my baby at the ultrasound, if he or she is cooperative, I'm having soon. It has nothing to do with being obsessed with gender. Before reading this thread, it never occurred to me that someone would start daydreaming/planning a child's life according to their sex. And I'm not doing it for nursery reasons because I actually like the look of gender neutral nurseries. Green is my favorite color. I'm not a fan of pink and frilly stuff, so I'm tempted to not tell people if it's a girl, but I probably will anyway.

The reason I want to know is that I'm just a curious person and want to know as much about my child as I can. Plus as others have said, it makes naming easier and I'd be able to start calling the baby his/her name as soon as I find out. Surprises are really not important to me.